According to The St Catherine's Standard, Gosling left the ceremony early so as not to disturb the proceedings. Reports say Mendes left soon after.

"He requested privacy for himself and his family," said university spokesman Kevin Cavanagh. "He didn't want to be a diversion."

Gosling's mother graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree and hopes to become a teacher. After word spread that Gosling was on campus, 'Brock University' became one of the top ten trending topics on Twitter.